Hermes -the Roman Mercury- started as a crafty boy-god and violator of women but then developed into a miracle-worker and spiritual guide. Every aspect of his complex personality offers rich insights. Mercury is often treated as a light-weight planet which overemphasizes the intellect and ignores the emotional side of life. By drawing on mythology and a series of compelling case histories, Freda Edis shows that it can be far more. People who feel stuck -endlessly repeating the same unsatisfactory patterns of behaviour- and need to confront the darker aspects of themselves can find inspiration in stories of Hermes's descent into the Underworld. His love affair with Venus, and the birth of their hermaphrodite child, has much to teach us about reconciling the male and female within ourselves.